Apparatus for sealing container caps

ABSTRACT

Apparatus is provided for sealing caps of containers, such as bottles containing medicine. The apparatus is inexpensive, requires little maintenance, and is particularly adapted for sealing containers in quantities not large enough to require the use of an expensive, automatic machine. The apparatus also is compact and is easy to operate, requiring minimum force to seal the container caps. A single lever of the apparatus is used to raise a bottle with a cap to be sealed into engagement with a rotating head, which then rotates the cap as well as the bottle. The lever simultaneously mechanically moves a crimping head into engagement with the cap to seal a depending edge thereof as the cap rotates.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,713,268 Gess 1 1 Jan. 30, 1973 541 APPARATUS FOR SEALING 741,249 10/1903 Jovignot ..53/334 CONTAINER CAPS 3,262,248 7/1966 Lovoy 1 3,336,728 8/1967 Monaco ..53/334 [76] Inventor: Larry C. Gess, 1255 Flr. Dr., Tem- P M' Primary Examiner-Travis S. McGehee [22] Filed; 7, 7 Assistant ExaminerHorace M. Culver Attorney-Allen D. Gutchess, Jr. [21] Appl. No.: 95,505 I g [57] ABSTRACT U-S. Apparatus is provided for ealing caps of containers [5]] Int. Cl. ..B65b 7/28 uch as bottles cgntaining medicine The apparatus is Field of Search 336, inexpensive, requires little maintenance, and is par- 5, 390 ticularly adapted for sealing containers in quantities not large enough to require the use of an expensive, [56] References Cited automatic machine. The apparatus also is compact and is eas to o erate, re uirin minimum force to UNVlTED STATES T N seal the coitainer caps. A si ngle liver of the apparatus 2,447,524 8/1948 Nordquist 53/334 X is used to raise a bottle with a p to be Sealed into 2,875,566 3/1959 Sevenpifer ..53/334 s g with a rotating head, which h rotates the 1,290,706 1/1919 Brenzinger ..53/334x ap as ell as the bottle- Th lever simultane usly 982,797 1/1911 Conley ..53/334 X mechanically moves a crimping head into engagement 2,883,817 4/1959 Foresman, Jr 53/334 with the cap to seal a depending edge thereof as the 1,599,325 9/1926 Garibaldi... ...53/334 cap tome,

826,245 7/l906 Hall ...53/334 X 1,440,983 1/1923 Hammer ..53/334 X 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 30 I975 3.7 l 3, 268

SHEET 1 UF 2 INVENTOR. Lama; C G- s mKQQQ FIG. I

PATENIEUJANBO I975 3,713,268

SHEET 2 0F 2 INVENTOR. Lamas: C. C-Esg W MJ APPARATUS FOR SEALING CONTAINER CAPS This invention relates to apparatus for sealing caps of containers and specifically caps of bottles containing one dose of medicine.

It is becoming a more widely spread practice for hospitals to supply medicinal doses for patients in individual containers. The containers are carefully sealed and labeled after receiving a predetermined quantity of medicine to assure that a patient is given the proper medicine in the proper quantity, and to minimize the possibility of mistake and wastefulness, as is not uncommon when medicines are dispensed from commercial, large containers. The individual doses also remain sealed up to the time of delivery to the bedside of a patient to avoid contamination. The labels on the containers are associated with the medicine to the time of delivery, thereby avoiding potentially dangerous errors.

Many hospitals employing the one-dose system only require from perhaps fifty to a few hundred bottles of a particular medicine daily or every few days. Such quantities are not sufficient to warrant the expenditure of relatively large sums of money for automatic equipment to fill the bottles, seal, and label them. However, such quantities do necessitate the use of some apparatus to print and apply the labels and to seal the bottles, in order to keep labor costs within reason.

The present invention provides apparatus for sealing caps on the bottles after the bottles have received the dose and the caps are placed thereon. The apparatus has a single motor which drives a rotatable head, which, in turn, rotates the cap and the bottle. Mechanical means are provided for simultaneously moving the bottle and the cap into engagement with the head and for moving a crimping wheel into engagement with the cap to seal the cap by crimping a lower edge thereof under a lip of the bottle. A single crimping wheel is employed which crimps the cap on the lip as the bottle and cap rotate. This progressive or incremental crimping movement requires relatively little force; consequently, an operator can seal a large number of caps on bottles without becoming fatigued. The mechanics of the machine are relatively simple and reliable, requiring little maintenance. The machine is also small and can be easily carried from location to location, as the need arises.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the invention to provide apparatus for sealing container caps on containers, which apparatus requires less force to effect the sealing operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for sealing container caps which is less expensive, more reliable, and compact.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus for sealing container caps which includes mechanical means for simultaneously moving the container and the cap toward a rotatable head and for moving a crimping wheel into engagementwith the cap.

Many other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view in perspective, with parts broken away, of apparatus for sealing caps in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, enlarged view in cross section, taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, but showing certain components in different positions; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, further enlarged view of a crimping wheel engaged with a container cap for sealing the cap on a bottle.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1, apparatus for sealing container caps in accordance with the invention is indicated at 10 and includes a housing 12 having side walls 14 and 16 and a bottom 18. An upper intermediate wall 20 and a lower intermediate wall 22 extend between the side walls 14 and 16. A rotatable capengaging head or spinner 24 having a recess 26 is affixed to a drive shaft 28 extending upwardly through and rotatably held by the upper intermediate wall 20. A driven gear 30 is affixed to the shaft 28 above the wall 20 and is enclosed by a cover (not shown) at the top of the housing 12. A drive gear 32 is engaged with the gear 30 and is mounted on a shaft 34 extending downwardly through a rear portion of the upper intermediate wall 20 to a motor 36 located in the rear of the housing 12.

A small, one-dose bottle or container 38 has a cap 40 resting on the bottle when placed in the housing 12 for sealing purposes. The bottle 38 is supported on a rotatable cylindrical member 42 having a shallow recess (not shown) for centrally locating the bottle 38. The member 42 is rotatably supported on a block 44 through a thrust bearing 46, with the member 42 having a central shaft 48 extending through the thrust bearing. The block 44 is affixed to a movable mounting plate 50 which is supported for vertical movement by U-shaped side guides 52 and 54 located on the side walls 14 and 16. When the plate 50 is moved upwardly,

the cap 40 engages the rotating head 24 and causes the cap 40 and the bottle 38 to rotate so that the cap 40 may be sealed. For different heights of bottles, the member 42 can be removed and replaced by a similar member of thicker or thinner dimensions so that the cap of the bottle will always engage the head 24 at a given position of the movable plate 50.

- The plate 50 has a pair of gear racks 56 and 58 thereon which are engaged by a pair of pinion gears 60 and 62. These, in turn, are mounted on an operating shaft 64 which is rotatably supported at end portions by the side walls 14 and 16. The shaft extends through the side wall 16, however, where it is affixed to a hub 66 from which an operating lever 68 extends. A bevel gear 70 is adjustably affixed by a set screw 72 to the shaft 64. This gear meshes with a second bevel gear 74 affixed to a vertically extending shaft 76 which is rotatably supported by the upper and lower inter mediate walls 20 and 22. The shaft 76 has a cam 78 thereon just below the upper intermediate wall 20.

An arm 80 has an end pivotally mounted on an axle or pin 82 depending from and supported by the intermediate wall 20, with the arm located between the cam 78 and the head 24. Near the opposite end of the arm 80 is an axle 84 (FIGS. 2 and 3) rotatably carrying a crimping member or wheel 86. The wheel 86 is urged upwardly on the axle 84 until a hub 88 thereof engages the lower surface of the arm 80. This is effected by a coil spring 90 located around the lower end of the axle 84. The crimping wheel 86 has an outer annular flange 92 thereon which engages a lower edge 94 of the cap 40 when moved toward the cap 40 by the cam 78. The flange forces the lower edge 94 inwardly below a lip or bead 96 of the bottle 38. During this movement the spring 84 enables the annular flange 92 to yield downwardly slightly as the flange moves the cap edge 94 inwardly, thereby clearing the bottle lip 96. A cylindrical shoulder 98 of the crimping wheel engages an intermediate portion of the side of the cap 40, above the lower edge 94, to achieve a relatively sharp bend for the cap. This design of the crimping wheel assures that the lower edge 94 of the cap will be tightly bent around the lower edge of the bottle lip 96. The edge 94 pullsthe cap downwardly so that a seal (not shown) on the underside of the cap is tight against the upper edge of the lip 96 to seal the bottle securely.

The crimping wheel 86 incrementally crimps in the cap flange 94 as the cap 40 is rotated by the head 24. This incremental bending of the cap flange enables the crimping process to be achieved with relatively little manual force on behalf of the operator since only a small portion of the cap flange is being crimped or bent at any given time. Consequently, the operator is capable of sealing many more bottles without fatigue.

When the lever 68 is raised, the cam 78 is moved in a clockwise direction, as shown in FIG. 2. A return spring 98, which is connected to a pin 100 and a hole 102 in the arm 80, then returns the crimping wheel 86 to an out-of-the-way position. Simultaneously, the nowsealed bottle is lowered so that the bottle can be removed and another filled bottle with a cap resting thereon is positioned on the cylinder 42.

It will be seen from the above that the invention provides apparatus for sealing caps which is simple to operate with a minimum of fatigue. The apparatus also is relatively inexpensive and maintenance-free, and enables caps to be fully sealed relatively rapidly.

Various modifications of the above described embodiment of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it is to be understood that such modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, if they are within the spirit and the tenor of the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for sealing a cap on a container comprising a housing, a container support carried by said housing and guided for movement in upward and downward directions, a cap-engaging head rotatably carried by said housing above said support, means for rotating said head, mechanical means for moving said support in the upward and downward directions, a crimping wheel, mechanical means for moving said crimping wheel toward and away from a position adjacent said head to engage and crimp a cap on a container located on said support with the cap engaged by said head, both of said mechanical means including a main shaft rotatably carried by said housing, a pinion gear on said shaft, a rack engaged with said pinion gear and effective to move said support up and down, said crimping wheel being mounted on a pivotable arm, a second shaft, means operated by said second shaft to move said crimping wheel toward the position adjacent said head, an additional gear mounted on said main shaft, a gear mounted on said second shaft and engagable with said additional gear, and a lever for rotating said main shaft to move said support in the upward and downward directions and to move sa|d crimping wheel toward and away from the position adjacent said head.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized by said means operated by said second shaft comprises a cam mounted on said second shaft and movable therewith.

3. Apparatus for sealing a cap on a container comprising a housing, a container support carried by said housing and guided for movement in upward and downward directions, said support being rotatably mounted relative to said housing, a cap-engaging head rotatably carried by said housing above said support, means for rotating said head, an arm, pivot means pivotably supporting said arm from said housing, a crimping wheel mounted on said arm, said arm being movable to move said crimping wheel toward and away from a position adjacent said head to engage and crimp a cap on a container located on said support with the cap engaged by said head, and hand-operated lever means accessible outside said housing for raising and lowering said support to move the cap on the container into engagement with said head to enable said head to rotate the cap and the container, and means operated by said hand-operated lever means and connected with said crimping wheel arm to simultaneously move said crimping wheel toward the position adjacent said head when said lever means is moved in a manner to raise said support.

4. Apparatus for sealing a cap on a container comprising a housing, a container support carried by said housing, a cap-engaging head rotatably carried by said housing above said support, means for rotating said head, one of said support and said head being guided for movement in upward and downward directions toward the other of said head and said support, mechanical means for moving said one of said support and said head in the upward and downward directions, an arm, pivot means for pivotably supporting'said arm from said housing to enable pivotal movementof said arm in a horizontal plane, a crimping wheel rotatably mounted on said arm at a position spaced from said pivot means, said wheel being movable-by said arm toward and away from a position adjacent said head to engage and crimp a cap on a container located on said support with the cap engaged by said head, mechanical means for moving said crimping wheel toward the position adjacent said head, spring means urging said crimping wheel away from said head, both of said mechanical means including a main shaft rotatably carried by said housing, a gear on said shaft, gear means engaged with said gear and effective to move said one of said support and said head up and down, a second shaft, means operated by said second shaft to move saidi t i 4 4 

1. Apparatus for sealing a cap on a container comprising a housing, a container support carried by said housing and guided for movement in upward and downward directions, a cap-engaging head rotatably carried by said housing above said support, means for rotating said head, mechanical means for moving said support in the upward and downward directions, a crimping wheel, mechanical means for moving said crimping wheel toward and away from a position adjacent said head to engage and crimp a cap on a container located on said support with the cap engaged by said head, both of said mechanical means including a main shaft rotatably carried by said housing, a pinion gear on said shaft, a rack engaged with said pinion gear and effective to move said support up and down, said crimping wheel being mounted on a pivotable arm, a second shaft, means operated by said second shaft to move said crimping wheel toward the position adjacent said head, an additional gear mounted on said main shaft, a gear mounted on said second shaft and engagable with said additional gear, and a lever for rotating said main shaft to move said support in the upward and downward directions and to move said crimping wheel toward and away from the position adjacent said head.
 1. Apparatus for sealing a cap on a container comprising a housing, a container support carried by said housing and guided for movement in upward and downward directions, a cap-engaging head rotatably carried by said housing above said support, means for rotating said head, mechanical means for moving said support in the upward and downward directions, a crimping wheel, mechanical means for moving said crimping wheel toward and away from a position adjacent said head to engage and crimp a cap on a container located on said support with the cap engaged by said head, both of said mechanical means including a main shaft rotatably carried by said housing, a pinion gear on said shaft, a rack engaged with said pinion gear and effective to move said support up and down, said crimping wheel being mounted on a pivotable arm, a second shaft, means operated by said second shaft to move said crimping wheel toward the position adjacent said head, an additional gear mounted on said main shaft, a gear mounted on said second shaft and engagable with said additional gear, and a lever for rotating said main shaft to move said support in the upward and downward directions and to move said crimping wheel toward and away from the position adjacent said head.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized by said means operated by said second shaft comprises a cam mounted on said second shaft and movable therewith.
 3. Apparatus for sealing a cap on a container comprising a housing, a container support carried by said housing and guided for movement in upward and downward directions, said support being rotatably mounted relative to said housing, a cap-engaging head rotaTably carried by said housing above said support, means for rotating said head, an arm, pivot means pivotably supporting said arm from said housing, a crimping wheel mounted on said arm, said arm being movable to move said crimping wheel toward and away from a position adjacent said head to engage and crimp a cap on a container located on said support with the cap engaged by said head, and hand-operated lever means accessible outside said housing for raising and lowering said support to move the cap on the container into engagement with said head to enable said head to rotate the cap and the container, and means operated by said hand-operated lever means and connected with said crimping wheel arm to simultaneously move said crimping wheel toward the position adjacent said head when said lever means is moved in a manner to raise said support. 